Winter best for cheap package deals to China

Arthur Frommer

Published
4:00 am PDT, Sunday, August 24, 2008

"We will use the subway as much as possible, as it's the quickest way to get around and above-ground traffic is horrendous."Locals take a ride in a subway train in Beijing, Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2008. (AP Photo/Odd Andersen) less

"We will use the subway as much as possible, as it's the quickest way to get around and above-ground traffic is horrendous."Locals take a ride in a subway train in Beijing, Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2008. (AP ... more

Photo: Odd Andersen, AP

Photo: Odd Andersen, AP

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"We will use the subway as much as possible, as it's the quickest way to get around and above-ground traffic is horrendous."Locals take a ride in a subway train in Beijing, Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2008. (AP Photo/Odd Andersen) less

"We will use the subway as much as possible, as it's the quickest way to get around and above-ground traffic is horrendous."Locals take a ride in a subway train in Beijing, Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2008. (AP ... more

Photo: Odd Andersen, AP

Winter best for cheap package deals to China

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The Olympics have ended, the crowds have fled Beijing, and you can bet that those 20 or so large new hotels are hungry for business. Now is a great time to visit China.

But January and February 2009 are even better. That's when the price leader to China, a San Francisco-based tour operator called China Focus (www. chinafocustravel.com, (800) 868-7244), is offering a "Historic China Promotion" that almost matches the $999 price that brought it more than 50,000 passengers during the past 10 years. Though the famous $999 has largely disappeared (it's offered for one departure in December, an obvious loss leader), the bargain is almost as good in deep winter.

Throughout January and February, for $1,049 out of San Francisco and $1,249 out of New York, China Focus will fly you nonstop to China for an 11-day tour spending nine nights at decent hotels in five Chinese cities (Beijing, Shanghai, Jinan, Qufu and Taian), including all transfers, daily sightseeing, transport by train or motor coach from city to city, and three meals a day. That's called a promotion because, according to China Focus' president, Jack Lee, it is partially subsidized by the airline and hotels.

To these basic prices, of course, you'll have to add taxes and a fuel surcharge of $415 from San Francisco and $455 from New York, bringing your total cost to $1,464 from San Francisco and $1,699 from New York - still a remarkable buy. And you can save $100 if you book by Sept. 1 and pay by check or money order.

What is China like in January and February? I can assure you that the hotels, buses, museums, temples, palaces, shops and restaurants there are as well-heated as anywhere else on Earth, and that well-chosen clothing will take care of your other needs. In the meantime, you'll be visiting at a time largely free of heavy tourism. Especially in late fall and winter, the cost of rooms and meals is dramatically lower than most anywhere else.

In fact, for only slightly more than a group tour would cost, a number of adventuresome Americans are planning low-cost independent trips to China. One such reader, flying with her husband from Portland, Ore., to Beijing (via San Francisco) in October for their second visit there, has advised me they will be paying only $933 per person for their round-trip airfare, including fuel surcharge.

"There are also nice three-star hotels at great locations for only $40 to $50 a night," she said. "But since we'll be in Beijing for 12 days, we decided to splurge an extra $10-$20 a night for an upgrade to four stars.

"I anticipate," she added, "we'll pay no more than $10-$15 per day for meals for both of us. We will eat in neighborhood restaurants for the most part; the food is better and more authentic (not to mention cheaper) there than in upscale restaurants, which 'sanitize' the dishes for Western tastes. Probably the most expensive dinners we have will be Peking duck, at $4 to $5 a person. I love Peking duck, so I'm budgeting for at least three duck dinners.

"I am also planning $10 a day per person for transportation and admission fees. We will use the subway as much as possible, as it's the quickest way to get around and above-ground traffic is horrendous.

"The above adds up to about $1,500 per person, which is not bad for a 12-night stay."

Bear in mind that these readers are going to only one city; they will not be visiting five, as clients of China Focus will. And they appear to be unusually venturesome. Unless the Olympics have changed matters, there is scarcely any bilingual signage in Beijing's subways and no one to ask in English for directions.

On my own recent use of the Shanghai subway, I took the sheer gamble of going to a particular track that seemed headed in the direction I wanted. And I was lucky; it worked. To this day, I don't know what I would have done if the choice had been wrong.

But taxis in Beijing cost an average of only $1.50. Be sure to have the name and address of your hotel written in Chinese on a piece of paper, and kept for emergencies.